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Herbal medicine practitioners urged to ensure safety

One of the graduates being presented with her certificate at the second graduation of the College of Integrated Healthcare at ObuasThe Director of the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine, (CSRPM), Prof. Dominic A. Edoh, has cautioned that although herbal medicine is very good, there is the need for practitioners to ensure that their products are safe before they administer it to people.

 

He said although many people believed herbal medicine was safe because it was natural, its practice, however, could have adverse effect or cause harm if the product or therapy was of poor quality or it was inappropriately taken or in conjunction with other medicines.

There was,therefore, the need for more training for herbal medicine practitioners, as well as increased education on the proper usage of such medicine.

Speaking at the second graduation of the College of Integrated Healthcare at Obuasi, Prof. Edoh urged the practitioners to have the safety of their patients in mind whenever they were preparing or dispensing the medicines.

The college, accredited by the Traditional Medicine Practice Council of the Ministry of Health, is the only institution in the country where students study both traditional and orthodox healthcare in an integrated manner.

He said herbal treatment was the most popular form of traditional medicine and was very lucrative on the international market, citing for instance that in China where the sale of herbal products totalled US$14 billion in 2005, adding that the worldwide annual market for traditional herbal medicinal products was about US$60 billion.

He commended the government for establishing a directorate of Traditional and Alternative Medicine and Traditional and Alternative Medicine Council in the Ministry of Health, as well as the establishment of the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM) at Mampong-Akuapem, all geared towards promoting herbal medicine in the country.

Prof. Edoh appealed to the government to, as matter of urgency, support the integration of herbal medicine into national policy such as the health insurance system for effective regulation and practices and to ensure safety and quality.

The Human Resource Manager at the Traditional Medicine Practice Council, Mr George Adiy-Boye, charged the practitioners to strive to serve their clients and the nation.

He urged the graduates to ensure that they made good use of their skills wherever they found themselves.

The Principal of the college, Mr Jacob Akwasi Anakpor, in his welcome address, appealed to the government to support them in getting accreditation to run diploma programmes in the various fields of endeavour.

He also appealed to the government to help absorb products from the college by way of employment into the pilot herbal medicine units across the country since they duly qualified to enhance services rendered by the herbal clinics in the various hospitals across the country.

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